17.1: The Flow of Genetic Information

The flow of genetic information

In bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, the primary role of DNA is to store heritable information that encodes the instruction set required for creating the organism in question. While we have gotten much better at quickly reading the chemical composition (the sequence of nucleotides in a genome and some of the chemical modifications that are made to it), we still don't know how to reliably decode all of the information within and all of the mechanisms by which it is read and ultimately expressed.

There are, however, some core principles and mechanisms associated with the reading and expression of the genetic code whose basic steps are understood and that need to be part of the conceptual toolkit for all biologists. Two of these processes are transcription and translation, which are the coping of parts of the genetic code written in DNA into molecules of the related polymer RNA and the reading and encoding of the RNA code into proteins, respectively.

In BIS2A, we focus largely on developing an understanding of the process of transcription (recall that an Energy Story is simply a rubric for describing a process) and its role in the expression of genetic information. We motivate our discussion of transcription by focusing on functional problems (bringing in parts of our problem solving/design challenge rubric) that must be solved the the process to take place. We then go on to describe how the process is used by Nature to create a variety of functional RNA molecules (that may have various structural, catalytic or regulatory roles) including so called messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that carry the information required to synthesize proteins. Likewise, we focus on challenges and questions associated with the process of translation, the process by which the ribosomes synthesize proteins.

The basic flow of genetic information in biological systems is often depicted in a scheme known as "the central dogma" (see figure below). This scheme states that information encoded in DNA flows into RNA via transcription and ultimately to proteins via translation. Processes like reverse transcription (the creation of DNA from and RNA template) and replication also represent mechanisms for propagating information in different forms. This scheme, however, doesn't say anything per se about how information is encoded or about the mechanisms by which regulatory signals move between the various layers of molecule types depicted in the model. Therefore, while the scheme below is a nearly required part of the lexicon of any biologist, perhaps left over from old tradition, students should also be aware that mechanisms of information flow are more complex (we'll learn about some as we go, and that "the central dogma" only represents some core pathways).

Genotype to phenotype

An important concept in the following sections is the relationship between genetic information, the genotype, and the result of expressing it, the phenotype. These two terms and the mechanisms that link the two will be discussed repeatedly over the next few weeks—start becoming proficient with using this vocabulary.

Figure 2. The information stored in DNA is in the sequence of the individual nucleotides when read from 5' to 3' direction. Conversion of the information from DNA into RNA (a process called transcription) produces the second form that information takes in the cell. The mRNA is used as the template for the creation of the amino acid sequence of proteins (in translation). Here, two different sets of information are shown. The DNA sequence is slightly different, resulting in two different mRNAs produced, followed by two different proteins, and ultimately, two different coat colors for the mice.

Genotype refers to the information stored in the DNA of the organism, the sequence of the nucleotides, and the compilation of its genes. Phenotype refers to any physical characteristic that you can measure, such as height, weight, amount of ATP produced, ability to metabolize lactose, response to environmental stimuli, etc. Differences in genotype, even slight, can lead to different phenotypes that are subject to natural selection. The figure above depicts this idea. Also note that, while classic discussions of the genotype and phenotype relationships are talked about in the context of multicellular organisms, this nomenclature and the underlying concepts apply to all organisms, even single-celled organisms like bacteria and archaea.

Note: possible discussion

Can something you can not see "by eye" be considered a phenotype?

Note: possible discussion

Can single-celled organisms have multiple simultaneous phenotypes? If so, can you propose an example? If not, why?

Genes

What is a gene? A gene is a segment of DNA in an organism's genome that encodes a functional RNA (such as rRNA, tRNA, etc.) or protein product (enzymes, tubulin, etc.). A generic gene contains elements encoding regulatory regions and a region encoding a transcribed unit.

Genes can acquire mutations—defined as changes in the in the composition and or sequence of the nucleotides—either in the coding or regulatory regions. These mutations can lead to several possible outcomes: (1) nothing measurable happens as a result; (2) the gene is no longer expressed; or (3) the expression or behavior of the gene product(s) are different. In a population of organisms sharing the same gene different variants of the gene are known as alleles. Different alleles can lead to differences in phenotypes of individuals and contribute to the diversity in biology that is under selective pressure.

Start learning these vocabulary terms and associated concepts. You will then be somewhat familiar with them when we start diving into them in more detail over the next lectures.

Figure 3. A gene consists of a coding region for an RNA or protein product accompanied by its regulatory regions. The coding region is transcribed into RNA which is then translated into protein.

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